Might be a local chain...but I wouldn’t take points off for that...they do what they do well...great burgers...very good chips & fries...and a very decent selection of craftbeers...local, regional, and national. Great stop for burgers and craftbeer if not a craftbeer destination itself...and nice people working there...very good service.

Located across the street from the far more interesting HoDo lounge, the JL bees has kind of an upscale diner feel to it. The interior is very narrow and small and the fryers and grill are prominent. They have nearly 30 taps of mostly regional craft with the odd bottle thrown in. The list was solid but not spectacular. I can’t really comment on service except being forced to buy a bottle of bottled water kind of sucks.

JL Beers has a nice location right off the main drag in downtown Fargo. There’s a big sign out front so we couldn’t miss it. The place is shotgun-style, with the bar on the left and some tables on the right. Not much room at all in here; has a diner-meets-bar kind of feel. There are a few dozen taps and they had the one I was looking for- a beer by Fargo Brewing. Got my ND rate finally. Also had some other good regional craft stuff. The food is cheap and decent; small burgers and fresh-cut fries that should be a little better. For some strange reason they don’t have tap water; only bottled water. That blew our minds. This is America. They also serve beer in frosted glasses. Strike two. Fortunately those are the only downsides. Worth a stop if you’re in Fargo. Next time I’m going to Sickies Garage, too, as they appear to have even more taps. There are some other JL locations in the region, as well.

Can’t imagine that there’s a better place in Fargo for beer selection. On that note, JL Beers’ tap list has a lot of winners (like Old Rasputin, Southern Tier Choklat, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, Sierra Nevada Hoptimum and Ovila Dubbel) but devotes all too many of it’s 32 taps to the likes of Coors Light, Fat Tire, Harp & Miller Lite. That said, it’s a stellar beer selection, which also includes a couple from Fargo Brewing. The one main detraction is that, with the exception of 1 outdoor table, all of the indoor seating in this long, narrow bar is of the belly-up barstool variety. On another very positive note, the burgers and chips are to die for. Not to be missed when you’re in Fargo.

Stopped here enroute to Minneapolis, as I’d enjoyed the one in Grand Forks. As before, the burger was very good, the ambiance was fine, the draft selection was commendable. The fries were again terrible. Worth a look if you’re in Fargo, and the easiest place to get that difficult ND beer tick, as they had a beer from the Fargo Brewing Co. on tap.